The 2017 NRL Season continues this weekend and with the Sharks and Rabbitohs on the bye, there will be seven games played. We take a look at every game in our NRL Round 13 Preview and Betting Tips below.
2017 NRL Round 13 Betting Tips
Melbourne Storm vs Newcastle Knights (Friday 6pm AEST)
This match won’t be as straight forward as you would expect, there will be a lot of things that will happen before this match which will determine the outcome.
The Knights will have Dane Gagai returning from Origin while the Storm’s stars Cooper Cronk, Cameron Smith and Will Chambers will be backing up from Queensland too. The Storm have home field advantage in this one and are very short priced favourites to take out the victory. The Knights have came close to victory in a lot of their matches this season and been competitive against teams they were annihilated by last year. However, it is hard to predict how strong the Storm will be with their stars backing up – they could easily put 50 on the Knights but it could also be a close game. We believe it is best to leave this game alone.
TIP: No bet
Parramatta Eels vs New Zealand Warriors (Friday 7.50pm AEST)
These two sides won’t be affected too much by the Origin, with the Warriors the only side to lose a player to their state. Forward Jacob Lilyman will be backing up but it shouldn’t change the outcome of this match, despite the two-day turnaround.
The Warriors and Eels both played last week and are both coming off victories. The Eels won their first match with Mitchell Moses in the side and he played a role in two of the sides four tries. Clint Gutherson was able to lay on the other two tries as he continues to be a great player who can be used anywhere in the backline. The Eels forward pack muscled up against the Rabbitohs and they will need to repeat that effort on Friday night.
Meanwhile the Warriors snapped a losing streak to earn two important competition points against a depleted broncos side. They played more direct and Shaun Johnson was the key to this. He needs to continue to take on the line to keep the defence guessing, rather than floating across the field and allowing the opposition to slide. We are predicting a tight match but with Corey Norman still on the sidelines, we believe the Warriors will come away with the win.
TIP: Warriors at the margin (1-12) – $3.50 at William Hill
St George Illawarra Dragons vs Wests Tigers (Saturday 3pm AEST)
The Dragons are sitting in third spot on the ladder after their first bye and they are hoping to have Gareth Widdop and Josh Dugan back in their side for this contest. Dugan will be backing up after Origin duties while Widdop is expected to return earlier than predicted from injury. The two will be huge inclusions as the Dragons were looking unstoppable prior to the two being sidelined and had mixed results without their two stars. Widdop especially was playing exceptionally.
Meanwhile the Tigers will have Tuimalolo Lolohea in their side after he was released from the Warriors earlier in the week. He will be Mitchell Moses’ replacement and he will play alongside Luke Brooks in the halves. Lolohea has had a rollercoaster NRL career and can often produce rocks or diamonds. Aaron Woods and James Tedesco will be backing up from Origin duty and we can’t see them causing an upset in this one with too many question marks surrounding their attack and defence.
TIP: Dragons at the margin (13+) – $2.30 at Ladbrokes
Sydney Roosters vs Brisbane Broncos (Saturday 5.30pm AEST)
There will be plenty of battered bodies in this contest with the Roosters and Broncos having multiple players backing up from State of Origin.
Both sides suffered losses last week, but they were without their origin stars and not much should be looked into it – other than the fact the Roosters were able to be competitive and almost earn the victory against the Raiders who were close to full strength. Luke Keary played well without Mitchell Pearce in the side while the forward pack really stepped up to the challenge.
Meanwhile the Broncos will be hoping their Origin stars can all back up but Wayne Bennett does like to rest his players throughout this period so we won’t be surprised if a couple are late withdrawals for this match. The Broncos have Ben Hunt back in the side and Anthony Milford will be either full of confidence after being a part of a winning Origin side or down in the dumps after a loss – the same can be said for Mitchell Pearce. We are predicting the home side to scrape home in this one.
TIP: Roosters at the margin (1-12) – $2.90 at Sportsbet
North Queensland Cowboys vs Gold Coast Titans (Saturday 7.30pm AEST)
The Cowboys will be without a Johnathan Thurston for this contest and Michael Morgan and Justin O’Neill will be backing up from Origin duty. The side has struggled without Thurston in the line up but they were unfortunate not to earn the victory against the Sharks while they earned a big win against the bulldogs a week before that. Lachlan Coote played a huge role in that victory and he will be key to the side in this one as his organisation takes a lot of pressure off Michael Morgan. The forward pack will need to step up because the Titans are a young side who are beginning to hit their straps.
The Titans had a slow start to the season and have suffered a lot of injuries. Ashley Taylor has been huge for the side and has over 20 assists to his name – a remarkable amount after 11 games considering Thurston had the most last year at 30. He will play a huge role in this one and we are expecting a big game from Jarryd Hayne in his back up game from Origin. The Titans are a talented young team and they showed the Storm a couple of weeks ago they can match it with the best and cause an upset.
TIP: Titans to win – $2.60 at CrownBet
Manly Sea Eagles vs Canberra Raiders (Sunday 2pm AEST)
The Raiders managed to escape with a victory against the Roosters last week but it was a lot closer than expected. The Green Machine struggled to score points against a depleted side but what is more worrying is they were winning by just two points with seconds remaining in the match. It would have been an embarrassing loss on home soil and the side needs to improve. Josh Papali comes back into the line up for this contest and they will need their forward pack to be at its best for this one.
The Sea Eagles have had a roller coaster season. One week they will play like premiership contenders and they will back that up the following week with a poor performance. However, we are predicting the former to show up in this contest. The Sea Eagles earned a victory against Canberra earlier in the season and we are expecting a similar result in this one. The side will be without the injured Tom Trbojevic but we believe Daly Cherry-Evans and Dylan Walker are in for big games with the latter beginning to show the form that saw him selected for Australia.
TIP: Sea Eagles to win – $1.91 at CrownBet
Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs vs Penrith Panthers (Sunday 4pm AEST)
The Bulldogs suffered a narrow one point loss against a depleted Sharks side last week. They will be boosted by the return of Brett Morris, Josh Jackson and David Klemmer while James Graham has been named to start despite only playing 10 minutes last week. The forward pack will need to muscle up in this one and get the go forward for the likes of Moses Mbye and Matt Frawley to take advantage of otherwise they will be in for a long afternoon.
A long anticipated move will happen for the Panthers on Sunday, but unfortunately it only has happened due to the injury to Bryce Cartwright. Matt Moylan will line up at five-eighth – a position we believe he will dominate in. Moylan often operates as a five-eighth during attack and creates a lot of opportunities for his teammates. However, he can often get in the way and as he isn’t operating as a normal fullback in attack it can be a deterrent for the side. The move to the number six jersey will see Moylan excel, halfback Nathan Cleary have pressure relieved and the Panthers run away with a victory.
TIP: Panthers at the margin (13+) – $4.00 at William Hill
